Definitions of Time
by thegoatromantic
Summary: Minerva is startled awake by Hermione in the wee hours of the morning and must listen to the girl's passionate ravings about her desire to marry Severus.


Author's Note: Welcome to my first double challenge fic. This story stemmed from DramioneLurver's Reasons to Get Married Challenge, then I ran across Macceh's Three AM Challenge, and I just thought they could be combined nicely so I combined them and this is what came from it. The reason for marriage in this story (Hermione and Severus) is that they had been dating for long enough so they just decided to get married. The part of Macceh's challenge is that the line "Do you really think that three in the morning is an appropriate time to be discussing this?" must be included somewhere within the story. The result is not quite what I had hoped for, so I'll probably come back and fix it a million times over later because I'm never happy with what I write.

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**Definitions of Time**

by thegoatromantic

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A frantic pounding on her door woke Minerva McGonagall from her deep sleep, and when she looked over at her clock she noted that it was nearly three in the morning. She grumbled quietly, quite unhappy to be woken up in the middle on the night, and slipped on a pair of night shoes so that she could answer the door without freezing her feet. The rabid knocking continued as she slowly scuttled across her floor, and when she finally reached the door it was thrown open, causing her to stumble back lest she desire to be hit by the heavy wooden object. As she gathered her wits, Minerva looked up and found that it was Hermione who had been crazily attacking her door. The girl looked excited, but not harmed, and Minerva put her hand over her chest, thankful that nothing was immediately wrong with the messy looking girl. She reached out her arm to usher the girl in, and the girl caught on, quickly entering the room and closing the door noiselessly behind her.

"Hermione, dear, you frightened me. I nearly thought someone had come to kill me. Although, I have no clue why they'd bother knocking before they came in. Now, what can I do for you?" She looked over the panting woman in her doorway and yawned, sleep still clouding her senses. She placed her hand over her mouth to cover it and then she walked slowly back over to her bed. She was old and tired, and she didn't care one bit what Hermione thought of her manners at this hour of the morning; the minute Hermione left she was going right back to sleep, just like she had been doing before the young woman's interruption.

The bushy-haired youth paced about the room a while before she finally decided to follow Minerva's example and sit on the bed. She sat directly next to the elder woman, causing the bed to sink a few inches and the distance between the two women to decrease, and both of their shoulders touched. The girl gripped both of her old, wrinkling hands tightly and stared up into her eyes, a huge grin spreading across her face as she did so. Her brown eyes twinkled furiously and Minerva could not even begin to guess what caused such great happiness in the young woman. When Hermione finally started to speak, she almost regretted opening the door for her. The reason for her savage attack upon the door at the wee hours of the morning was less than important in Minerva's eyes, as she had opened the door for the very same reason on other nights.

"Oh, Minerva, I love Severus. I really do. I just can't sleep because I love him so much." Her eyes twinkled again, and Minerva sighed, slightly annoyed that the woman would wake her up in the wee hours of the morning to proclaim her already-known love for the potions master of Hogwarts.

The elder lady laid one of her wrinkled hands on the lively young woman's shoulder and sighed, staring up into the wildly twinkling eyes with a slightly vexed look. She was not pleased to have lost sleep because her passionate ex-student was love-struck and could think of no better way to deal with it than to vent her deepest feeling for the man to her.

"Do you really think that three in the morning is an appropriate time to be discussing this? Could it not wait until we had all naturally woken up?" She gave Hermione a stare that said 'you should know better than to wake someone up at this time of night for this kind of thing'.

The younger woman straightened, noticing the look in her mentor's eyes, and shook her head furiously. "Oh, no Minerva, it's not like usual. This time, oh, it's so wonderful! I could dance I'm so happy." Minerva gave her an expectant look and the girl continued on, grabbing and holding the elder woman's wrinkling hands tightly. The smoothness of the younger woman's skin reminded Minerva of her younger days, and she could feel some of the irritation for the girl slip away. She was able to recall what it felt like to be young and in love, and so she could not fully blame the girl for her excitement.

"Alright, just tell me what's going on already." Hermione nodded quickly, her smile lighting up the room more than any lamp either of them owned. The pureness of the smile caused Minerva to feel more sympathy for her younger counterpart.

"I think..." She paused to squirm on the bed and Minerva sighed, wishing that the younger woman would get on with her story. She glanced quickly at her clock and noticed that it was already ten after three. The young woman began to talk again and Minerva looked back up, seeing that the girl's face had changed from confident and excited to nervous and unsure in a matter of seconds.

"I think, well, I think Severus is going to ask me to marry him." She gave the elder woman a cheeky glance and though the room was dim, Minerva could see a blush building on the girl's cheeks. She threw her arms around the young woman and congratulated her. She was glad that the stuffy man had finally decided to propose to the woman he was so clearly in love with; the two of them had been dating for so long that Minerva was getting worried about their lack of matrimonial activity. She had been expecting him to propose to her for the past few years, but still she had heard no word. She could finally relax now, and worry about other couples and singles that had still not completely found love.

"So what makes you think he's going to propose? Did you find a ring somewhere?" The girl shook her head, the large grin back on her face.

"No, he's just been acting strangely lately, and I figure that he's probably going to propose. I mean, what else could he be acting so strangely about?" Minerva shrugged, her mind racing over possibilities but finding none that she could firmly grasp. Hermione's assumption was as good as any, and she only hoped that her assumption was correct or else the poor girl's heart would be crushed.

You better be planning on marrying her, Severus, or so help me you'll wish you had proposed, she thought, still smiling at the shining woman in front of her. She sighed, then stood up and walked over to the cupboard to put on some tea. The bed whined softly as her weight left it, and the old woman felt for it. She wanted to whine as well, but knowing the energy of the woman that remained on the bed, she would be awake and forced to play hostess for a few hours more to discuss how wonderful the young woman's partner was in every way.

The girl was completely enamored with the silent man, but her affections were reciprocated and it was a happy relationship. Minerva had never thought she would live to see the day that Severus Snape fell in love with someone, much less his ex-know-it-all Gryffindor student, but she was pleasantly surprised the day that the same woman who currently sat in her bed had come knocking on her door with the unbelievable news. It had taken a while for the verity of the information to sink in, but she was overjoyed when she finally accepted it. It was just so hard for her to take it as the truth at first because their small affair had been so masterfully hidden that she had never suspected a thing from either of the two, and then one day the young woman suddenly sprung the information that she had been involved with the man for a few months on her, and she just didn't know what to think.

"Minerva, I love him so much." The elder lady nodded as she handed her a cup.

"I know you do."

"I really hope he proposes to me." She took a small sip of the cold tea in her hands and sighed.

"I'm sure he will, dear. He loves you very much, you know." Minerva withheld her reasons for knowing that he loved her very much because she was afraid of what the young woman would ask of her if she revealed the fact that the potions master also visited with her to talk about the very same things she did. She took her place on her bed again and yawned again. The girl next to her yawned as well, and she rested her head on Minerva's shoulder.

"Can you imagine what our wedding would be like? I'd wear a beautiful gown, and we'd get married in the summertime. Out in a green, grassy field." Hermione chuckled. "Can you imagine Severus outside in a sunny green pasture?" Minerva laughed, admitting that no, she could not imagine the stoic man outside on a bright day marrying a wonderful, intelligent woman. She could not imagine the man getting married very well at all, in fact, but she did not share that with the impassioned girl beside her.

"Once we get married there will be two Snapes teaching at Hogwarts. Won't that be confusing for the first years?" Hermione paused and then whispered quietly to herself. "Hemione Snape..." She quivered, obviously thrilled at the thought of taking on her to-be-husband's name.

The change of last name was hard for Minerva to grasp as she sounded it out in her mind. There was something about the way the letters rolled off the tongue that was foreign and unnatural. She didn't think the name change would suit Hermione, but again she said nothing to her. It was not her place to get involved, even if the woman trusted her opinion enough to come to her with her secret in the first place.

For a while after that the two sat in an amicable silence, just listening to the quiet ticking of the clock and the barely audible sounds of house elf footstep's pattering across the cold stone floors. Even in the wee hours of the morning they were up and active, maintaining the school so that it would be clean and prepared for the students and faculty come morning. It was not until a large bell chimed in the room that the two finally reclaimed themselves from their private thoughts and acknowledged the other person in the room. Hermione stood up, slightly embarrassed for staying so long, and she bowed, thanking the elder woman for listening to her once again.

"Of course, my dear. You know my ear is always open for you."

Hermione smiled, waved once, then snuck back out in the hallway and headed for her bedroom.

As soon as the sound of the door clicking shut was heard, Minerva placed her teacup gently on the nightstand beside her bed and sighed. She had been up for nearly two hours with the girl. She was too old to play with the young at such hours, and she could feel the exhaustion pulling at her eyelids. She was contemplating closing her eyes and resting for a little bit longer when a quiet knock was heard on her door and a house elf silently entered the room. He looked up at her, his eyes huge and slightly fearful, and bowed.

"Is there anything you need this morning, Ma'm?"

Minerva shook her head and rubbed her eyes slowly. Some more sleep wouldn't be bad, she thought as she watched the little elf run around her room and tidy things up. The guy had so much energy and the sleep-deprived woman wished that he could share some of it with her. When he finally finished, he seemed to have lost none of his energy and he slipped out the door just as quietly as he had entered it. Minerva ran her hand through her hair and sighed. She would have to stop taking early morning calls from young women who were in love with difficult men; she was just getting to be too old for this kind of thing.


End file.
